The Catalyst by Helena Coggan (review)

It’s been eighteen years since a brilliant scientist really messed things up or opened up a new world of possibilities, depending on what side you happen to fall. Either way, the world is permanently changed, and now there are magic-wielders and those without magic, and every human shares his or her body with another being. Fifteen-year-old Rose has a remarkable amount of inside knowledge into the government because of her dad’s esteemed position and her own involvement in the prevention of civil war between the magical haves and have nots, and she’s also trying to keep secrets about herself hidden. The descriptions of the monstrous hybrids that sometimes come out of the soul joining are the most gripping part of the novel, demonstrating that messing around with the universe can have rippling and unforeseen impact. However, the novel packs in a lot of plot and it doesn’t all come together, leaving a complex and baffling mess of a world that may all make sense in the announced sequel but doesn’t sort itself out here. In addition, Rose and those close to her have implausibly convenient access to all sorts of top-level secrets. Even with those issues, the pace is so zippy and the secrets so layered and tantalizingly revealed that readers may find themselves at the end before they know it and be willing to see what the next volume brings.